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Stormy History Of
Scotland's Capitol
"Edinburgh," by Sacheverell Sitwell and Francis Bamford. (John
Lehmann, London. 19/6).
The co-authors of this superlative book divided
their labors in some degree, Mr. Bamford acting the part
of the historical researcher, and producing the powder
and shot, as it were, for Mr. Sacheverell Sitwell's narra-
tive.
EACH has performed his
task in a manner which
defies criticism. Mr. Bam
ford has clearly delved into
secret corners for his rare and
interesting facts and tit-bits,
and hi bis beautiful prose Mr.
Sacheverell Sitwell has woven
these into a history of such
high interest and merit that
[reading it is at once an educa
tion and an exciting adventure.
Into the history of Edinburgh
—the scrubby eleventh cen
tury hamlet that has become
the present city of fine charac
ter, distinction and beauty, and
containing Europe's finest street
I—the authors have cleverly
Montrose's face as he mounted
the scaffold; the Earl of
Douglas was treacherously
murdered by the King in 1443
when a guest under the Royal
roof! And these were normal,
not out-of-the-way, incidents,
as also were the ghastly mur
ders and plots which make up
the tragic story of Mary, Queen
of Scots, and Darnley, Rizzio,
Bothwell, Queen Elizabeth and
all the other actors in that
renowned drama which Is here
beautifully told once more.
The authors' view is that
while Mary was in no sense a
noble-minded woman,-, her
faulty upbringing, her youth,
her passionate nature, and the
numbing atmosphere or in
trigue in which she was always
woven tne
whole fabric of
Scotland's
grim and ter
rible history -
Their story is
one of cen
turies of bitter
intrigue on the
one hand, be
tween the great
houses, and on
the other be
tween the great
families and
the throne, hi
the bloody
q vest for
power, influ
ence and
wealth.
Add to these
the eternal and
shattering wars
with England,
the religious
feuds and the
poverty and
hardship of the
poorer classes,
and you have a
dire picture of
Scottish life, at
enveloped,
should incline
one to pity her
rather than
blame. At ell
events the au
thors seem to
prefer Mary to
her mentor,
the ranting,
self - righteous
John Knox.
In happier
and more mod
ern vein the
authors write
of the glories
of Adam archi
tecture, of
Baeburn's
paintings, the
poetry of
Burns, and the
celebrated
Fanny Elssler
and the Edin
burgh ballet.
The story of
the visit of the
somewhat
florid George
IV. to Edin
burgh is a I
I least up to the time of the 45
Rebellion.
And the quarrels were pur
sued with a ruthlessness and
hate which almost defy de
scription. Murder, torture,
treachery and bad faith were
commonplaces, the guest not
even being safe from murder
under his host's roof.
'At the Merest Cross (Scot
land's Tyburn, now demolished)
ghastly scenes were enacted,
and aristocrats of both sexes
joyfully gathered to see the
fun, particularly if the con
demned happened to be a per
sonal enemy.
The Earl of Argyll was
crowned on three consecutive
days with a red hot diadem,
and then dragged through the
streets naked to be finally be
headed and quartered; the
Countess of Argyll spat in
masterpiece of subtle, ironic
writing—Sacheverell SitweU's
delicate, whimsical irony runs,
indeed, like a vein of gold right
through the book—and among
the extraordinary Incidents of
the visit one is presented with
the macabre spectacle of Lord
Queensbury's idiot son—left
unguarded euisog a Royal
party—being caught roasting,
and himself sampling, the
family spit boy!
This book is one of the finest
and most original studies of its
kind—it is a work that once
read one wishes to read It
again, so strong is its grip and
fascination.
There art some interesting
photographs of Edinburgh city
—the old and the new.
The Canongare, Edinburgh. during King George IV.'* visit to the city in U22. Help
The Canongare, Edinburgh.
during King George IV.'* visit
to the city in U22.
$